The summer of 2015

Living in Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) is a beautiful place to call home, and for Ed & I its been 21 months since we moved here, and I feel after all this time, NOTL is now home. This will be our second season of running the b&b, meeting new people, and having fun at the same time. With most of the difficulties of starting up a new business behind us, we are becoming seasoned owners, and loving our new life.

After a very long and cold winter, along with most people, we are enjoying this great summer weather. Just gauging by the amount of phone calls we get from people looking for accommodation, tourism seems to be up this year and our bookings are better than last years. You just have to walk into town or try to get a table at one of the many restaurants to see how busy it is. We do tell our guests that reservations are required at most of the restaurants, especially when you are planning on seeing a play at The Shaw and want diner first.

Did you know that if you have not purchased theatre tickets to see a play at one of the four Festival Theatres, you can always try to pick up tickets on the day of, you may not have the same choices like, prime seating but if you are not as fussy you can get tickets to some great plays. www.shawfest.com/playbill

One of our guest favorite activities to do when they are here, is cycling. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a great community for riding bikes, we have so many bike trails and designated bike lanes on most roads, and not the traffic that the big cities have. After hearing all the stories from our guests about their biking experiences we decide to try for ourselves and purchased bikes, we use them in the evenings to get some exercise and relaxation.

There is always something going on Niagara-on-the-Lake . . .

. . . that being said, the weekends in the summer months are very busy and reservations are usually required for most restaurants and winery tours, and of course for accommodations. We still have some dates available for the end of August, and if we are not available we can help you find lodging with another b&b. We have a great community of Bed & Breakfast owners where we help each other find accommodations for guests.

A word from our guests as posted on

In e-mails to several friends describing our recent trip to Niagara on the Lake, I wrote “The bed and breakfast we stayed at, Demi’sPlace, was superb.” Ed & Demi are professional and friendly hosts, who made us comfortable in their lovely home and boosted our confidence with in-depth local knowledge. Their recommendations were spot on. Each of our three mornings started with a different delicious, cooked breakfast. The French toast was particularly good. We’ll definitely be back!

We were 2 couples staying overnight. We had the street view whilst our friends had the upgraded larger room. The room was clean, the linen fresh. The bathroom was very tidy, though not updated. There were the usual amenities of soap, shampoo, hand cream. The only thing missing was a full length mirror which would be an easy addition.The location is excellent offering a short walk to a lovely park and vineyards (Two Sisters being the closest), centre of town and the theatre.I skipped brunch but the others enjoyed a frittata and homemade banana bread. Guests can avail themselves of a few snacks from the dining room. Both the front and back of the home have shaded seating areas where one can enjoy a pre dinner drink.The only drawback was upon opening our windows wide to let in the fresh evening air, we had to shut the curtains as a light from somewhere was shining straight onto the pillow area of the bed. Otherwise, we had a very pleasant stay. Our cost, weekday with tax, C$190.00.

Ed and Demi were friendly and accommodating hosts. Our room was spacious and immaculate. Breakfast of veggie frittata and accompaniments was delightful. We took a bottle of newly purchased Niagara wine to their beautifully manicured garden area and enjoyed some quiet time. We will return as we travel to Niagara On The Lake frequently for the Shaw Festival.